Rescue hopes wane

RECOVERY EFFORT: A Chinook helicopter kicks up snow Monday as it drops off search-and-rescue crews in the attempt to recover the body of Kelly James from Mount Hood in Oregon. DON RYAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Search-and-rescue costs

Search-and-rescue missions can cost climbers and the counties they live in:

•Costs are amassed for manpower, helicopters, lost and broken equipment, and mileage on vehicles.

•While residents of Orange County would not be charged for a rescue in their local area, the county has received charges from other counties where Orange County residents have been the subject of searches.

•At Mount Whitney in Inyo County, search-and-rescue teams have billed other counties $1,200 to $6,000. The cost depends on the extent and danger of the search.

•Some private companies offer climbers insurance.

•Some parks require climbers to carry insurance.

— Register staff writer Greg Hardesty contributed to this report.

What's new

HOOD RIVER, Ore. Rescue officials on Monday extended the search for two missing climbers on Mount Hood, surveying a wider area on the possibility that the pair may have fallen down a steep side of the mountain.

Rescue crews also worked to extract the body of a third climber in the party, Kelly James of Dallas, found alone in a snow cave Sunday.

Wampler said Hall and Cooke may have been swept to their deaths over a treacherous cliff by winds of more than 100 mph after they left to seek aid for James, who had an arm injury.

Background

The three started up the 11,239-foot mountain Dec. 7.

Wampler said it appears the three climbers reached the summit from the difficult north side and started to go down the easier south side.

They built a snow cave, possibly because of bad weather, the sheriff said.

He said all three probably spent the night of Dec. 8 there. The next day, he said, Hall and Cooke probably left the cave to find help for James.

Then, the weather deteriorated even more.

The two had to dig another snow cave for themselves on a steep slope, not far from the first cave, the sheriff said. That was the last sign of the two.

James, a landscape architect, made a cell-phone call from the snow cave on Dec. 10, telling his family the party was in trouble.

What's next

If rescue teams cannot find the climbers, they may start digging through as much as 10 feet of new snow that has fallen on the mountain, the sheriff said.

A climber's caution

Richard Agnelli, 45, of Los Alamitos has been climbing mountains for more than 25 years.

Satellite-based navigation systems and other gadgets can be very helpful, but only to a point, he says.

"The more inexperienced climbers tend to think that a rescue is only a few minutes away," he said. "They are overly reliant on their cell phones. That's like carrying along a first-aid kit and thinking you'll be able to handle everything."

Climbers must use good judgment to avoid accidents.

"You still have to rely on your own decision-making," said Agnelli, general manager of Rockreation, an indoor climbing gym in Costa Mesa. "Reliance on your gear is only part of it."

RECOVERY EFFORT: A Chinook helicopter kicks up snow Monday as it drops off search-and-rescue crews in the attempt to recover the body of Kelly James from Mount Hood in Oregon. DON RYAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GRIEF AT THE NEWS: Family members hug following a news conference Monday at the Hood River Airport. RICK BOWMER, AP

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